Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow restarts gas supply to Europe via Nord Stream pipeline; no evidence Putin unwell, says CIA – live

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Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has just posted a message to Telegram saying “The Russians are striking Kharkiv” and instructing people to stay in shelters.

Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv region, has posted a status update for his region this morning, in which he says “villages located on the demarcation line remain under constant shelling.”

He reports that near Berezneguvat there were two bush fires started by “the fall of ammunition and their fragments”, and that there was at least one death overnight as a result of shelling in the oblast, with casualty details as yet unclear from several incidents.

The United States estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached around 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded, CIA director William Burns said.

“The latest estimates from the US intelligence community would be something in the vicinity of 15,000 (Russian forces) killed and maybe three times that wounded. So a quite significant set of losses,” Burns said while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

“And, the Ukrainians have suffered as well – probably a little less than that. But, you know, significant casualties.”

Russia classifies military deaths as state secrets even in times of peace and has not updated its official casualty figures frequently during the war. On March 25 it said 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed. Ukraine has also said it will not be releasing the numbers of Ukrainian casualties, however Kyiv said in June that 100 to 200 Ukrainian troops were being killed per day.

Russian and separatist forces continue to attempt small scale assaults along the Donbas front line and are also closing in on Ukraine’s second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, according to the latest British intelligence report.

Russian forces are also likely closing in on Ukraine’s second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, 50km north-east of Donetsk, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

Russia is prioritising the capture of critical national infrastructure, such as power plants.

However, it is probably also attempting to break through at Vuhlehirska, as part of its efforts to regain momentum on the southern pincer of its advance towards the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.”

Russian forces destroyed two schools in the Donetsk towns of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka overnight, Ukrainian officials say.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, shared photos of the destruction in a Telegram post early this morning.

“Russian occupiers destroyed two schools today – in Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka,” he said, adding that an industrial area in Kramatorsk was also hit.

The United States has promised it would oppose any possible future annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia.

Again, we’ve been clear that annexation by force would be a gross violation of the UN Charter, and we would not allow it to go unchallenged. We would not allow it to go unpunished,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a regular daily briefing on Wednesday.

US officials earlier said on Tuesday that it saw signs Russia was preparing to formally annex territory it has seized in Ukraine.

The United States will send four more high mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars) to Ukraine, US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, earlier announced.

“(We) will keep finding innovative ways to sustain our long-term support for the brave men and women of the Ukrainian armed forces and we will tailor our assistance to ensure that Ukraine has the technology, the ammunition and the sheer firepower to defend itself,” Austin said at the start of a virtual meeting with allies on Ukraine.

In a press conference after the meeting, Chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff general Mark Milley said Ukraine had used Himars to hit Russian command and control nodes, logistic network and air defence sites within Ukraine.

Himars have a longer range and are more precise than the Soviet-era artillery that Ukraine has had in its arsenal.

Austin said the new package would also include rounds for Multiple Launch Rocket Systems as well as artillery munitions.

The latest package would bring the total number of Himars the United States has provided to Ukraine to 16.

The United States has provided $8bn in security assistance since the war began, including $2.2bn in the last month.

Russia also shut down the idea of resuming peace talks with Ukraine, accusing it of being undeserving of “serious attention from serious people”.

Lavrov said the previous sit-down proved Ukraine had no “desire to discuss anything in earnest”. He continued:

They simply will never be able to articulate anything that would deserve the serious attention of serious people.” “[Peace talks] don’t make any sense in the current situation.”

CIA director Bill Burns responded to rumours about President Vladimir Putin’s health, denied the Russian leader was ill.

Burns, who speaks Russian and who has dealt with Putin over two decades, was asked about periodic media reports suggesting Putin is unwell at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday. Burns retorted:

There are lots of rumours about President Putin’s health and, as far as we can tell, he is apparently too healthy.”

Burns served as ambassador early in Putin’s tenure and was quietly sent to Moscow last year in an unsuccessful attempt to dissuade him from invading Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reports.

Burns, noting that he has dealt with Putin over two decades, described the Russian leader as having “a very combustible mix of grievance and ambition and insecurity.”

“He is not a big believer in the better angels of the human spirit,” Burns said.

“He is convinced that his destiny as Russia’s leader is to restore Russia as a great power.”

The Russian Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline has restarted with gas flowing from Russia to Germany after maintenance, according to data viewed this morning.

Nominations on the pipeline for gas flows from Russia into Germany were at 29,284,591 kwh/h for 6am – 7am CET, from zero previously, data from the operator’s website obtained by Reuters showed.

Data for actual physical flows for the same time period have not been updated, and are at zero for the 4am – 5am CET period.

Operator Nord Stream AG said that gas started flowing again Thursday morning but the flow would take a while to ramp up, German news agency dpa reported.

“It’s working,” a Nord Stream spokesman told Agence France-Presse, without specifying the amount of gas being delivered.

Gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline into the OPAL and NEL connection points in Germany stood at 0 kilowatt hours per hour on July 21 for the hour of 5am – 6am CET, data from the pipeline operator showed on Thursday.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany had been closed since 11 July for annual maintenance work. German officials feared that the pipeline — the country’s main source of Russian gas, which has accounted for around a third of Germany’s gas supplies — might not reopen at all.

Russia’s foreign minister has said that Moscow’s military “tasks” now go beyond the eastern Donbas region to permanently occupy broad swaths of southern Ukraine.

The comments made by Moscow’s top official, Sergei Lavrov, are the clearest signal yet that the Kremlin is preparing to launch a new round of annexations.

In televised remarks on Wednesday evening, Lavrov said Moscow’s objectives will expand further more territory along Ukraine’s frontlines if the west keeps supplying Kyiv with long-range weapons such as the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars).

Now the geography is different,” he said, in a change of rhetoric from the Russian government.

It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk, it’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and a number of other territories. And this is an ongoing process, consistent and insistent.”

In remarks to the RT editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, Lavrov also said Russia would seek more territory due to the western military aid to Ukraine, in particular the delivery of Himars missile systems that have destroyed a number of Russian military command posts.

“The west … in a desire to maximally exacerbate the situation have pumped Ukraine with more and more long-range weapons,” he said, citing a Ukrainian defence minister’s remarks that Ukraine was negotiating for munitions that could strike targets 300 km away. “That means our goal will be to move them back from the current line even further.

“Because we can’t allow that in that part of Ukraine which will be controlled by [Volodymyr] Zelenskiy or whoever replaces him, there were weapons that could present a direct threat to our territory.”

Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while.

CIA director Bill Burns, who speaks Russian and who has dealt with Putin over two decades, has responded to rumours about President Putin’s health, saying: “As far as we can tell, he is apparently too healthy.”

Russia’s foreign minister has said that Moscow’s military “tasks” now go beyond the eastern Donbas region to permanently occupy broad swaths of southern Ukraine.

It is 8.30am in Kyiv and here is where things stand:

Russia’s foreign minister has said Moscow’s military “tasks” now go beyond the eastern Donbas region to permanently occupy broad swaths of southern Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov said Russia may seek more territory along the frontlines in Ukraine, calling it a buffer against US-supplied Himars rocket artillery. “Now the geography is different,” Lavrov said. “It’s not just Donetsk and Luhansk, it’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and a number of other territories.”
Russia has shut down the idea of resuming peace talks with Ukraine, accusing it of being undeserving of “serious attention from serious people”. Lavrov said the previous sit-down proved Ukraine had no “desire to discuss anything in earnest”. He continued: “They simply will never be able to articulate anything that would deserve the serious attention of serious people.” “[Peace talks] don’t make any sense in the current situation.”
Russian missile strikes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed three people on Wednesday, according to local officials. Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said those killed included a man, a woman and a 13-year-old boy as he waited at a bus stop.
Ukrainian shelling badly damaged the crucial Antonivskiy bridge in the Russia-controlled Kherson region of southern Ukraine, Moscow-installed regional authorities said. The bridge is one of only two crossing points for Russian forces to territory they have occupied on the western bank of the Dnieper river in southern Ukraine. It has been a key target for Ukrainian forces in recent days.
The Ukrainian first lady, Olena Zelenska, appealed to US lawmakers to provide more weapons to fight “Russia’s Hunger Games” in an emotional 15-minute speech to members of the House and Senate. “I am asking for weapons, weapons that would not be used to wage a war on somebody else’s land, but to protect one’s home and the right to wake up alive in that home,” she said, adding that US weapons could help assure a “joint great victory”.
The US will provide four more advanced precision Himars rocket systems to Ukraine, the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has announced. “Ukraine needs the firepower and the ammunition to withstand this [Russian] barrage and to strike back,” he said. In addition, the US will provide additional guided multiple launch rocket system (GMLRS) ammunition, which can precisely strike targets up to 80km (50 miles) away.
The European Union will mobilise a fifth tranche of military assistance of EUR500m to further support Ukraine. The EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said the region “remains focused and steadfast in its support for Ukraine, together with partners”.
Lithuania will offer Ukraine additional military support, the Lithuanian ministry of defence announced on Wednesday. Included in the package will be M13 and M577 armoured personnel carriers, as well as ammunition for reserve training.
The European Union has set out emergency plans to reduce its gas use amid fears Russia could cut off its supply in winter. It proposed a voluntary target for countries to restrict usage by 15% from August until March, accusing the Kremlin of weaponising gas exports. “Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon,” the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a news conference.
South America’s Mercosur trade bloc has declined Zelenskiy’s request to address its upcoming summit. Bloc members Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay failed to reach an agreement on the request which he made to Paraguay last week, according to the deputy foreign relations minister Raul Cano, who declined to say which states were against it.
The European Union has agreed on a new round of sanctions against Russia, this time targeting its gold exports, as well as individuals and entities. The move marks the seventh package of penalties and will see assets frozen at Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, with several more names added to the blacklist.
Pro-Russian separatist forces have stepped up the forced conscription of men in the occupied areas of Donbas. Video emerged of a Ukrainian woman confronting officials who attempted to force her husband to join pro-Russian fighters in Donetsk. “He doesn’t want to go and fight. Nobody wants to fight. We are so sick of you and your war,” she said.
Russia’s communications watchdog has said it is taking steps against the Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts online encyclopedia Wikipedia, for violating Russian laws. The laws are aimed at restricting truthful reporting around the conflict in Ukraine.